Be My Nightingale
by PrincipessaBel
Summary: The first time they met wasn't exactly the most romantic. It wasn't something where you'd think sparks flew or red ties of fate tightened or butterflies squirmed in one's stomach or something like that. It was the time where both their siblings got eaten to death in the raging fire of the building at San Fransokyo Institute of Technology.
1. Smoking Hot

**BE MY NIGHTINGALE**

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><p><strong>Sypnosis :<strong> The first time they met wasn't exactly the most romantic. It wasn't something where you'd think sparks flew or red ties of fate tightened or butterflies squirmed in one's stomach or something like that. It was the time where both of them were riding the train wreck of emotions and panic as the 'incident' occurred. It was the time where one would not think about romantic relationship with each other. It was the time where both their siblings got eaten to death in the raging fire of the building at San Fransokyo Institute of Technology.

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><p><strong>Chapter 1 :<strong>_ Smoking Hot_

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><p>When the child prodigy, Hiro Hamada, first saw her, she was smoking hot. Literally smoking hot. A part of her hair was singed and a bloody cut lacerated her pale skin on the side of her head. She seemed to be pushed off from the building – perhaps a millisecond before the big explosion. The girl was sprawled halfway into the stairs<p>

Hiro was confused in what to do. A part of him wanted to leave her to be found by the emergency kit and ran inside the still-burning to find Tadashi as he refused to accept the fact that he must've died from the big outburst. Another part of him just wanted to lie down beside the girl and pretend to be dead.

The raven-haired boy was numb to the bones; the hot and cold breeze didn't made him shiver even the slightest bit. Hiro just wanted to hear Tadashi's voice again. He just wanted his brother to pat his shoulder and tell him that it's alright. He just wanted him here, beside him. As selfish as that might've sounded in the thoughts of others, _he just wanted his onii-san back. One minute he's there, and then he's gone. _

"Hiro! Oh my goodness, are you alright?" He heard a familiar voice yell and foosteps rushed towards his general direction. His throat became tight as if his heart was threatening him to jump away from his system. He didn't know what to say to _her_. He didn't even know what to think!

The boy-genius looked up at his aunt, eyes teary and panicked. He was glad that it was a bit dark because it would be embarrassing to break down now. "I-I'm al-alright, Aunt Ca-Cass." He stuttered, the lump of his throat getting worse and worse by the second. He hugged the woman in effort to hide his face as the tears fell down. _He can't be gone,_ Hiro thought to himself. _Surely, he would've saved the professor and his self before the blast! Tadashi is the best in getting people out of trouble!_

"Where's your brother?" His guardian asked the dreaded question, her voice calm but shaky. She caressed Hiro's messy locks in attempt to serene the thoughts of the seemingly muddled teen. The boy sniffled and shook his head, murmuring something under her embrace. The woman frowned and looked at the fiery inferno infront of them then back at the raven haired teen, "Did he. . . went in the building?" Cass gulped, expecting for the worse as Hiro's actions makes no sense if Tadashi was okay. The boy nodded his head painfully slow and the older woman tightened her hug, joining Hiro's grief and lament.

"GUUUYS!" Fred shouted as he and the others ran towards the two. "ARE YOU AL. . . right?" He faltered, seeing Hiro and Cass in an aura of misery.

"Where's. . .?" Honey Lemon started but stopped abruptly as realization clicked. She's looking for the reason why Hiro and his aunt were crying.

_Tadashi's gone._

It all processed in their heads slower than solving a complex scientific problem for the fact that they all didn't expected it. Tadashi was a good person. Perhaps too good for his own sake.

"I'm sorry, Aunt Cass, Hiro." Wasabi spoke up after a moment of silence, sharing his condolences to the two.

"It's-It's not your f-fault, Wasabi. No-nor a-anybody's fault." Cass said, hiccupping as she tried to stop herself from crying further. Hiro needed someone strong and on Cass' perspective, she is the only one he can depend on as a parent.

GoGo stared at the fiery building, not really trying to accept Tadashi's demise. "You are really stupid, Hamada." She spat in venom as she knew what would've triggered him in running up the dangerous scorching structure. Then that's when she found an unconscious bloody girl. The short –haired girl blinked and thought to herself, _she's one lucky girl to not get burned to death._ "Honey, Wasabi, Fred, call the medics! We've got someone injured here!"


	2. Lucky Day

**Chapter 2 :** _Lucky Day_

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><p>The Lucky Cat Café. A place in downtown San Fransokyo for everyone to relax and enjoy theirselves. A girl wearing a long sleeved shirt with a faded-print of a cupcake and ripped floral jeans stared at the said building infront of her. Crumpling up the paper she had in hand, the teenage girl sighed in anxiousness. Her bangs was to the left side of her head to hide an ugly scar of a disastrous memory. She tucked a few loose strands of her bangs from her middle-length black-hair behind her ears as she gulped and eyed the customers going in and out of the café. This is her last resort if she wanted to do things right. After all, she can't stay in the wretched house of her greedy uncle and her stupid cousins.<p>

"F-Fuck, I'm gonna regret this." She stuttered as she headed for the door, the aroma of mouth-watering coffee hit her senses and she was tempted to buy some for herself. _If only I had my money back_, she gingerly thought.

"Good morning, miss! Take a seat, I'll be right back!" A middle aged woman with brown hair greeted her with such cheer that the girl was taken aback._ How easy it is for this stranger to share happiness. _

"I-I. . . C-Can I. . W-Where can I. . Uhm. . Uhh, see Miss. . C-Cassie Takachiho?" The ravennette meekly followed the 'who-seemed-to-be-a-café-employee', stuttering as she asked the question.

"Oh! That's me, my dear. I'm Cassie Takachiho, you can call me Aunt Cass, or Cass, if you like." The woman said happily, her smile never fading, "Do you need anything?" The woman, who said she was Cassie, looked at the counter of the shop and mouthed something to her employee – the girl too restless with her own pessimistic thoughts to notice. Her gaze was downward, avoiding eye contact.

Gulping once again, the teen could feel her hands cold as ice as she tried to hide the nervousness of what she was about to do, "I-I was wondering i-if. . I can g-get a job h-here."

"What?" Cass blinked in surprise as the girl blushed red in embarrassment. "Oh dear, how old are you?" Miss Takachiho asked gently.

"I'm f-fourteen." She fiddled with the crumpled paper, bit by bit tearing it apart. _So this place is where she worked._ The girl thought, _must've been fun._

"You must be eighteen to be able to work here, Miss. Would you like to talk about why you are looking for a job?" The woman said, patting the girl's shoulder but she quickly jerked away from the exchange.

"I-I'm sorry. I just r-really need to find a p-place to s-stay and a j-job to support m-myself." She tried to make eye contact with Cass but she failed miserably, looking at everything except the shop owner. A lump on her throat formed as thoughts of her sister working at the same shop became unbearable.

The woman put her hands on her hips and stayed silent for a second, the girl knew that Cass was eyeing her. After a few seconds of thought, Cass said, "Would you like to talk about this on the second floor?"

"S-Second. . f-floor?" The teen looked up at Cass with wide eyes. Is she serious. . .?

Ms. Takachiho smiled at her warmly and nodded, "Yes, that's where my house is." She walked towards the stairs, "C'mon, don't worry, the tea is free."

Not knowing what to do, the girl followed. Her body was rigid and stiff of fear. She looked around, seeing pictures of the shop owner with two boys who looked like it was her children. The older one of the boys, she recognizes as Tadashi Hamada. Biting her lower lip because of a sudden influx of memories, she forced the tears back and feigned a yawn in order for the woman not to be suspicious of why she was there.

Once they've went upstairs, Cass pulled her to the nearest chair and went to get food. She came back with a tray of cookies and tea, settling it down the coffee table. "So, tell me about your life and your reasons of asking for a job here."

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><p>"Bye, Junko! See you tomorrow!" Cass waved at the black-haired girl, who hesitantly waved back. She was suddenly accepted to work on the Lucky Cat Café because Ms. Takachiho had pried her open of why she asked for work at the age of fourteen. Junko was cautious to share her story so she left a few details that aren't of importance to Cass.<p>

She proceeded to walk back to her uncle's rundown apartment just a few blocks away from the said café. Junko decided to sit by the nearby park before really going home. It's just three in the afternoon anyway, she thought to herself. The park had been one of her favorites in the attractions of the town as it was somewhere her sister and her boyfriend would always bring her for a cheer-up. She sat down the bench, seeing herself being dragged by a rather slightly muscular tall guy and a petite long-haired girl.

"Stop it, Junko. You're imagining shit again." She scolded herself as she looked down her sleeves. Pulling her sleeves up a bit showed a parallel of freshly lacerated skin and horrid scars that decorated the pale membrane. By then, her feet were itching to go to the nearest 'bot fight circle' and just drown her depression in lust of the money and fame she's getting in the illegal underworld of robot fights. "Okay, stop. Just fucking stop!" She slapped herself in attempt to break the delusional thoughts of having herself once again going to the place where her brother—

Junko finally snapped from her train of thoughts when a girl was shoved into her direction and crashed into her. "WHAT THE HELL, FRED!" The said girl stood up and punched the guy who, Junko guessed, pushed the girl towards her. The ravenette was shocked to see a group of strangers being all cheerful infront of her.

"Whoops, sorry for that! My friends are just really rowdy!" A tall slender blonde told her in apology. Junko looked down her lap and nodded, murmuring words in the line of 'she's okay'.

She became conscious when the girl, who was pushed towards her, eyed her like dead meat. Junko tried to peek at her and she was menacing. Her eyes were narrowed and calculating. The said girl, surprisingly, offered her gum. Junko was taken aback and she also heard the group gasp in horror.

"GOGO JUST OFFERED THE GIRL GUM!" 'Fred', as Junko may recall he was called, screamed in complete and utter amazement.

A tall burly man commented proudly, "Well, I'll say that it's her lucky day!"

"Shut up, you guys. Woman up, and take these. I won't say no for an answer." The girl, 'GoGo', told her sharply and Junko rigidly accepted the gum with a soft 'thank you'. The group left after that and Junko was left, once again, with gum in hand and a lot of questions as to why she had terrible feelings towards the girl.

_And yes, she knows that it has something to do with Tadashi._

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><p><em>A thanks to those who reviewed, followed and favorite-d my story! I'm happy that you guys appreciate what I've done even if it's just the first chapter.<em>

_**PS.** I don't really know what Aunt Cass' surname is so I used "Takachiho", Hiro's original surname from the 'comics' so no flames on that matter, please. _

_**PPS.** On the other parts of my story, yes, you can flame it if you really don't like it. But I think I'd prefer a much more 'civilized constructive criticism' would sound better, no?_

_**PPPS.** A little review might not hurt, too. Tell me what you think so I know what the direction of this story is, whether it's pleasing you guys or it's just a blot in your life! _


	3. One-on-one

**Chapter 3 :** _One-on-One_

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><p>Cassie Takachiho walked up the stairs towards the room of her nephew, a plate of sushi roll, wakame salad and a bowl of hot miso soup in hand. "Hiro," She greeted her nephew with evident gentleness in her voice, "you know you need to get up and face the sun!" The middle-aged woman said, trying to cheer the depressed teenager. "It's not the end of the world, sweetie."<p>

"Hmm." Hiro hummed in monotonous agreement, lying like a dead plant on his bed. He didn't even glanced at his aunt, who changed the plate of food in his desk.

The woman sighed, "The school called again, they said your application is still pending." She said hopefully, "All you need is to register and, shazam, you're in the school. They say it may have been a few days since classes started but. . you're still welcome."

The ravenet nodded, "I'll think about it, Aunt Cass." He said with a hollow voice. Hiro's thoughts flew again to the heavens as she tuned out his Aunt. He thought about days when Tadashi would bring him to random places in effort to help him think about new project ideas.

"Okay, just. . . promise me you'll do good."

The teen didn't listened to what his guardian had said but he looked up, "Yes, Aunt Cass."

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><p>"Welcome one, welcome all!" A booming voice of a woman cut through the chuckles, shouts and boasts as she showed up with two teens, both wearing hoodies but the other one had it up to hiding his face. "Tonight's bot fight is rather. . . eccentric, as I must say!" She said, a smirk painting itself on her face. She led the teenagers on a small ring and separated them, "Two young competitors take a bite at the bait as they fight for glory! Now, your money, hon?"The woman said, holding up a small porridge bowl to a black haired teen.<p>

He meekly reached for his pockets and showed crumpled dollars. "Uhm. . Would these do?" The boy, Hiro Hamada, said innocently.

The woman raised an eyebrow at Hiro but then looked away in annoyance, clicking her tongue as she walked to the other teen. "Tch. Soooo, Tetsuya, I'm pretty sure you've got more than this little runt's cash prize!" She smirked at the other teen, who was wearing a black jacket in contrast to Hiro's navy blue ones. The woman teased to pry off some big cash on the guy.

"Didn't come here to fight a low pot. But sure, I'll tease 'im." Hiro's opponent said with overloading confidence. He hated the way this guy treated him like he's just a meddlesome try-hard 'bot fighter but Hiro decided to keep a low profile to be able to calm the fuck down before he get revenge on his rival.

"Come at me, then." The child prodigy commented in a low voice but loud enough for his challenger to hear.

The guy chuckled sinisterly and replied, "Sure I will."

A red floral_ karakasa_ shielded Hiro's view of his rival as the woman who mediates them started the introduction of the fight. "Two bots enter, one bot leads. Fighters ready?" She asked and booming yells of encouragement and jeers of disapproval started.

"Ready." Hiro said, expanding his little robot's control mech to optimize its maximum abilities.

"FIGHT!" The lady shouted and the fight began. _One-on-one._

The guy told Hiro with sheer sadism and hostility, "I'll crush you."

"Oh yeah?" He monotonously replied with a pokerface, "Well, robot_, destroy_."

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><p>The fight took Hiro longer than the maximum average of one minute to destroy his opponent's robot. It was fun and a little challenging, considering that it lasted for ten minutes straight. It was already ten in the evening and the teen was carefully picking the right alleys into which he walks into because even if San Fransokyo is a high-tech city, crime is still at large.<p>

Footsteps echoed through the alleyway and Hiro's heartbeat fastened. He quickly changed pace and walked swiftly, only to be yelled at. "Hey, you dork, stop right there!" He heard the same voice of his opponent from earlier. _Oh great, juuuust great. _He internally commented."I'm amazed. You beat me."

Hiro was taken aback by the comment and faced the guy, his glorious black hoodie still covering half his face and the dark isn't really helping Hiro see much. _Next time inspiration hits him, he'll make night vision glasses._ Blinking twice, he tried to regain his composure. "Yeah. I beat you." Hiro tried to be as cocky as he normally would but a part of him is hopefully waiting for a Tadashi in a bike to bring him home._ A little routine he and Tadashi, grudgingly if Hiro may say, would normally do on a Friday night._

The guy nodded and offered a handshake, "They call me Tetsuya here. Who're you?"

"Hiro." The ravenet took it and raised an eyebrow cautiously, "I don't suppose you're here to beg me of my 'legit' winning?"

"No. I didn't." 'Tetsuya' pulled back his hand and shoved it into his jeans pockets. "I'm amazed by your bot. You used Robert Callaghan's theory of Robotics to build that, didn't you?"

He remembered the incident again just by that one single surname. _Professor Callaghan's still in there! At least someone's gotta help!_ Tadashi's voice rang into his ears and Hiro tried to push it away, not really wanting to break down infront of a stranger. "Uh- Yeah. W-Why, got a problem with that?"

"No, idiot." A faint chuckle was evident by the tone of Tetsuya's words, "Don't get cocky with me, you piece of shit." He nudged Hiro playfully like a 'friend'. The black haired teen wanted to snap Tetsuya's neck into stopping him from being too overly touchy. "I accepted my defeat and learning to know you wouldn't hurt me." Tetsuya continued.

"O-Okay. So, yeah, see you then, man! Nice- Nice talking with you!" Hiro said awkwardly, waving a good-bye as he tried to walk and run without seemingly evasive.

"Got no bike?" Tetsuya asked in concern, titling his 'hoodie' covered head to the side.

"A bike?" Hiro exclaimed in exaggeration, looking back at the figure. "I'm a teenager, barely touching the age of legality, why would I own one?!" He blurted out because Tadashi never let him try his motorbike, not even once. _Well, Tadashi would've taught me if_—He stopped, a gloomy aura once again dropping his soul.

"I got one, want a ride?"

"No thanks. I'm walking." Hiro said, turning his back towards Tetsuya once more, his monotonous depressed voice once again settling in on him.

"Sure. Whatever floats your boat." Tetsuya replied in a rather sarcastic comment. "Urgh. The one time you tried to be nice Junko, you screwed up and looked like a creep!" Hiro blinked and looked back, once again at Tetsuya, who was knocking his head with his fists – talking to himself. _Hiro thought of who this Junko fella is._

"What?"

The guy looked up to Hiro and swayed the topic off. "No, just talkin' to myself." Tetsuya waved his right hand in a dismissing manner as his left hand removed the hoodie covering his face. Locks of medium long black hair flowed down to his back and dark pupils stared at Hiro's identical ones.

Realizing that Tetsuya was a girl, all Hiro could do was yell. "WAIT- YOU'RE A GIRL!?" He exclaimed, once again, in exaggeration, a blush of embarrassment creeping up on his face._ A girl just asked him for a ride and there he is, being the same dork that he is. _Hiro remembered the time when Tadashi told him he'd never get a girlfriend if he kept his robot fighting career. Perhaps he's right because Tetsuya's face wasn't amused.

"Got a problem with that?" She asked sharply, the tone of her voice dropped temperature.

"Uhm. . . Uh- No! Nothing!" Hiro said, cursing himself for not being able to differentiate a girl from a boy. Now that he's thought about it, Tetsuya's body figure was slender and impossible for a guy. He really thinks that Aunt Cass would've told him more about girls aside from liking 'sweet and fluffy things'.

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><p><strong>AN:**_OMG, you guys. So many views in one week! I love you all! Thank you to those who reviewed, favorite-d and followed! If you have something in mind, tell me what you think in the reviews section! _

_PS. Did I say I love you all?_

_PPS. Some questions on the review section aren't meant to be answered for I might spoil the surprise. Or perhaps you all got your own theories by now._

_PPPS. Anyway, I hope you all still appreciate this! okay, I'm stopping. Hahaha_


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